Pakistan’s Ministry of IT and Telecom set a timeline for rolling out 5G service, with a spectrum auction of four bands scheduled for May and deployment to start the next month, Pakistan Today reported.

The Ministry’s Advisory Committee for 5G Planning is due to complete its work on policy reforms, covering spectrum pricing, auction format and tax framework in March, the newspaper wrote.

Pakistan established the committee in 2020,

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is expected to allocate spectrum in the 3500MHz, 2600MHz, 2300MHz and 700MHz bands.

In a report on the Pakistan market in August 2024, the GSMA noted spectrum costs were already high and ARPU had been declining, making it “imperative a rational approach to pricing is adopted for the upcoming auction so the total cost of spectrum is sustainable and operators have the right incentives to invest in network rollout which delivers affordable connectivity”.

The GSMA also urged the government to eliminate a 15 per cent withholding tax on telecoms services and a 19.5 per cent sales tax on mobile services.

In 2023, Pakistan’s Minister of IT and Telecom and the PTA chair committed to eliminating hurdles to a 5G auction, with a priority on addressing issues around taxation. At the time, the officials aimed to hold an auction within ten months.

The PTA issued six-month 5G test licences in the 2.6GHz band to operators Jazz and Zong in 2020.